Public hearings are a specific time during a meeting of the Town Council when citizens and other interested persons have the opportunity to be heard and to express their opinions on a particular matter. They are opened and closed by the Presiding Officer.
Some public hearings are required by state statute before the Council may take any action. For example, the Council must hold a public hearing before it may adopt the annual budget, to allow interested citizens to provide their opinions on the proposed budget.
When required by law, a notice of public hearing will be published in a local newspaper.
The Council adopted Rules and Procedures for Public Hearings can be viewed HERE.
Upcoming Public Hearings
No upcoming hearings
Policy on Public Comments at Public Hearing
- Public comment during a public hearing shall be limited to thirty (30) minutes. Before making their remarks, individuals making a comment during this period shall provide their full name and their permanent residential address. Each individual shall be allowed no more than three (3) minutes to make their comments, and no person may speak more than once. The Council may, in its discretion, extend the time allotted for public comment, extend the time allotted for any individual, or allow an individual to speak more than once by a majority vote of the members actually in attendance and not excused from voting.
- The Council may, in its discretion and by a majority vote of the members actually in attendance and not excused from voting, allow groups of aligned individuals who have retained a Licensed Professional to speak on their behalf during the public comment period to combine their allotted time to permit the professional to exceed the three (3) minute limit. No such professional, however, shall be permitted to speak longer than ten (10) minutes, regardless of the number of individuals represented. For the purposes of this section, a Licensed Professional shall mean an individual licensed in a learned profession (including, but not limited to, engineering, law, medicine, etc.) by the appropriate licensing body and authorized to practice within that profession in the State of North Carolina.
- Individuals providing comment during the public comment period are permitted to express their concerns or opinions about the issues under discussion or share facts, data, or other information which may assist the Board in its deliberation, but they may not ask questions of the Mayor, Town Council, or Town officers or employees; make personal attacks on the applicant, petitioner, members of the Councilor Mayor, or any other persons which are not pertinent to the subject matter of the public hearing; or generally expound on matters which are wholly unrelated and irrelevant to the subject matter of the public hearing.
- Following the conclusion of the public comment period, the Town Attorney may recognize a Town employee to provide additional information to address any concerns raised during public comment. The Town Attorney may then recognize the applicant or petitioner, if any, to provide a rebuttal to address concerns raised during public comment.